2011 UFL Championship Game
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Date | October 21, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Stadium | Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Brent Harris (play-by-play) Jerry Glanville (color analysis) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2011 UFL Championship Game was the third championship game of the United Football League and took place on October 21, 2011, the concluding weekend of the league's truncated third season.[1] The game was won by the Virginia Destroyers, who, in front of a standing-room-only home crowd at Virginia Beach Sportsplex, defeated the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Locomotives 17–3, spurred by the performance of strong safety and game MVP Aaron Rouse.[2] The win gave Destroyers coach Marty Schottenheimer, notorious for his failure to reach the Super Bowl in his NFL coaching career despite strong regular season statistics, his first and only championship as a professional head coach and his first professional championship since the 1965 American Football League Championship Game, Schottenheimer's rookie season as a player.
Background
The date of the 2011 championship game was the subject of ongoing upheaval in the UFL both before and during its
The UFL's 2011 season would finally begin on September 15, with the Championship Game set for the weekend of November 4–5. By mid-October, when five of the season's seven weeks were played, the UFL announced the cancellation of the last two weeks of the season and moved up the title game to the night of October 21—ironically the weekend originally slated for the title game in the previous five-team plan.[8] Virginia and Las Vegas, who shared first place at the time of cancellation (with identical 3-1 records) were awarded berths in the Championship Game. Using similar criteria employed to determine the 2010 Championship Game's host venue (an inexact formula based on team success and fan support), Virginia Beach Sportsplex was announced as the 2011 title game's venue; the Destroyers attracted crowds in the 12,000 for their two home games, while only 6,500 came to Las Vegas' lone home game on October 8 (the Locos' final two home games were among the games cancelled by the league).
On the field, the play of the Locomotives and Destroyers (the former Florida Tuskers) were on par with their performances in
Game summary
The Championship Game was dominated by defense, specifically that of the Destroyers. On the 3rd offensive drive of the game (Las Vegas' 2nd), Virginia strong safety
The Destroyers’ offense fared a little better than the Locos'. On the 3rd play of the 2nd quarter, Virginia's Clifton Smith returned a Danny Baugher punt 60 yards to the Las Vegas 7; 3 plays later, Dominic Rhodes would score on a 2-yard run for a 14-0 Destroyers lead. After a 32-yard Clint Stitser field goal (the Locos' only points of the night) made it 14-3, Virginia would respond on the next drive with a Delbert Alvarado field goal (from 21 yards out) to cement the final score. The Destroyers defense would stand down in the 2nd half and secure the team the UFL title and deny the Locos a championship three-peat.
Scoring Summary
Team | Qtr | Scoring Info | LV | VA |
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VA | 1st | Aaron Rouse 46-yd interception return for TD (Delbert Alvarado kick) | 0
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7
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VA | 2nd | Dominic Rhodes 2-yd TD run (Delbert Alvarado kick) (2 plays, 7 yards, 0:42) | 0
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14
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LV | 2nd | Clint Stitser 32-yd Field Goal (4 plays, 6 yards, 1:24) | 3
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14
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VA | 2nd | Delbert Alvarado 21-yd Field Goal (12 plays, 75 yards, 4:28) | 3
|
17
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Statistical Leaders
- Rushing Leaders
- LV: Hakim Hill, 43 yards on 9 carries
- VA: Dominic Rhodes, 96 yards on 27 carries
- Passing Leaders
- LV: Chase Clement, 7-26, 93 yards, 3 INT's
- VA: Chris Greisen, 21-31, 154 yards, 1 INT
- Receiving Leaders
- LV: Samie Parker, 2 catches for 27 yards
- VA: Dominic Rhodes, 4 catches for 9 yards
- Defensive Leaders
- LV: Wale Dada, 8.5 tackles (8 solo, 1 assisted); Brandon Moore, 2 tackles (4 assisted), 1 INT
- VA: Tony Taylor, 4.5 tackles (2 solo, 5 assisted); Aaron Rouse, 4 tackles (2 solo, 4 assisted), 3 INT's, 1 TD
Most Valuable Player
Virginia Destroyers strong safety Aaron Rouse was awarded the UFL Championship Game's most valuable player award after the game. Rouse, a Virginia Beach native and former Virginia Tech star, spearheaded the Destroyers' defensive performance in the game, with 3 interceptions (the 2nd of which he returned for the first touchdown of the game), 4 tackles, and 2 pass break-ups. Rouse's performance came during a difficult personal week, when he suffered the loss of his 19-year-old cousin in a shooting incident.[10]
Broadcasting
Unlike the league's first two championship games, which were broadcast by former TV partner
Consolation game
As part of the UFL's cancellation announcement of its 2011 regular season, a "consolation game" involving the league's third- and fourth-place teams, the
References
- ^ a b "Destroyers And Locos To Play For 2011 United Football League Championship Game In Virginia On October 21 | UFL". Archived from the original on 2011-10-18. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
- ^ Robinson, Tom (October 22, 2011). Virginia Destroyers capture UFL title in 17-3 victory Archived 2012-05-12 at the Wayback Machine. Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
- ^ Kaplan, Daniel (2010-11-29). "UFL positions itself for possible NFL stoppage". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
- ^ "Omaha Nighthawks name Joe Moglia new coach" Archived 2011-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, from omaha.com, 1/12/2011
- ^ "United Football League announces 2011 schedule," press release from UFL via OurSportsCentral, 6/9/2011
- ^ "Struggling UFL shuts down Hartford team," from Associated Press via Bloomberg Businessweek, 8/12/2011
- ^ Smith, Michael David (July 20, 2011). Jim Fassel: UFL misread the NFL lockout. Pro Football Talk. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
- ^ "UFL fast forwarding to title game, extinction". 16 October 2011.
- ^ "Virginia gets defensive, ends Locos' reign as UFL champs," from Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/22/2011
- ^ "Destroyers capture UFL title as hometown star Rouse shines after cousin's slaying," Archived 2012-05-23 at the Wayback Machine from The Daily Press (Newport News, VA), 10/22/2011
- ^ "UFL Title Game to Air Live on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, Webstream," press release from UFL via OurSportsCentral, 10/21/2011
- ^ UFL: Nighthawks Could Play Friday[permanent dead link]. KETV. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
- ^ "UFL woes don't dull Locos' focus as title game looms," from Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/21/2011
- ^ "Former Husker helps Sacramento past Nighthawks,"[permanent dead link] from Omaha World-Herald, 10/22/2011